The present invention relates to a package and a dispensing plate primarily for use in dispensing and separating pre-moistened towels or smaller towelettes from a continuous web of towelling material.
Pre-moistened sheets or towelettes are increasingly popular among consumers because they are convenient and easily provide a "damp cloth" even when water is not readily available. For the most part, these sheets are either individually wrapped or come as part of a continuous web which is rolled and perforated so that it can be separated into a plurality of individual sheets. This invention relates to the dispensing of the sheets or towelettes packaged as a rolled, continuous web.
Presently, rolls of the towelettes are delivered to the consumer in a plastic container with a separable top removably fitted over the container. The top has a specifically designed outlet for withdrawing the towelettes on the roll therethrough and for subsequently separating the individual towelettes from the roll. Novelty among different containers and tops lies primarily in the construction of the opening through which the towelettes are required to pass as they are removed from the roll. The opening must be large enough to permit the towelettes to fit therethrough and, at the same time, must be small enough to exert frictional pull on the towelettes to cause them to separate along the perforated dividing lines.
While the prior art towelette dispensers seem to function well and achieve their goal of separating the individual towelettes from the continuous perforated web, there are drawbacks. The major drawback and area for improvement is the total packaging concept which currently requires expensive materials for forming the package, much hand labor, and, ultimately, disposal of the spent container. The dispenser/containers now available are almost entirely formed from extruded and molded plastics, have a top with the specific type of outlet therethrough positioned on top of the container with the web thereinside, and require that the web be initially fed through the opening so that it is ready to be used. Also, the dispensing opening must be conveniently sealed in some way to prevent the pre-moistened towelettes from drying out before reaching the consumer, and finally, since the containers are of rigid plastic, the disposal of them creates problems -- they are bulky even when empty and create polluting fumes when they are burned.
In an effort to eliminate many of the problems which exists with the presently available dispensers and containers, a new package, including a new container and dispensing plate has been developed as shown in FIG. 1. The dispensing package of FIG. 1 utilizes an outer container 100 for holding therein a roll 200 of pre-moistened towelettes. The roll 200 within the container is also surrounded by a bag 300 which helps to prevent the roll from drying out. The top 301 of the bag is opened and folded back inside the outer container 100. The towelettes are pulled away from the roll 200 and out of the top of the bag 301 through the dispensing plate 400.
The outer container 100 may be of any construction which will suitable contain the roll 200. For ease in assembly and disposal, a small paper box which is treated to be moisture resistant is adequate. Thus, a container which is lightweight, yet sturdy, and which will increase the ease of handling and stacking the rolls is provided.
The bag 300 for containing the roll 200 functions primarily to prevent the pre-moistened towelettes from drying out before they reach the consumer and before the consumer uses all of them. To fulfill this function, nearly any lightweight, flexible plastic bag will do; however, any other material which will inhibit vaporization of the moistening liquid in the roll may also be used for the bag and the same results will be obtained.
The actual roll 200 of towelettes is a continuous web 201 which is perforated 202 along the length thereof to form a plurality of sheets or towelettes 203 which can be separated from the remainder of the roll 200 by simply detaching along the perforations. The technique of forming such a roll 200 is old in the art.
Two general embodiments of the sealing and dispensing plate are shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Each plate 400, 400' has a narrow slit 401, 401' which is directly connected to a hole opening 402, 402'. As shown in FIG. 1, the end of the roll 200 of towelettes is pulled through the narrow slit and then into the hole. The holes 402, 402' are sufficiently large enough to allow the towelettes 203 to be withdrawn from the inside of the bag therethrough. A significant feature of the openings 402, 402', however, is the fact that while the openings must be large enough to allow the towelettes 203 to be withdrawn therethrough, they must, at the same time, provide enough friction to the web so that the towelettes will separate at their perforations 202 as they are pulled through the hole.
The principal distinction between the two plates of FIGS. 2 and 3 is in the construction of the opening space which leads into the slit 401. In FIG. 2, the plate 400 simply has sloping sides 404 leading into the top end 405 of the slit 401; the sloping sides 404 facilitate guiding the end of the towelettes 203 into the slit 401. The variation shown in FIG. 3 discloses a larger hole 406 in the plate 400' at the top end 405' of the slit 401', and the hole 406 has sloping sides 404' at the bottom thereof leading directly into the slit 401'. To use the second embodiment of the plate 400', the towelette 203 is pulled through the hole 406 and then pulled between the sloping sides 404' into the slit 401' and toward the hole 402'. Then, in either embodiment, the towelette 203 is in the smaller hole 402, 402', and the plate 400 remains around the top of the roll 200 with the end towelette thereinside. The plate 400 may have almost any outer edge configuration, i.e., circular, square, polygonal, etc., as long as there is a slit therein with sloping sides leading into it at one end and the slit has a hole at the other end. It is recognized, also, that other variations of the slit construction are also possible.
After the pre-moistened roll 200 of the towelettes is packaged in the bag 300, and the bag is appropriately sealed, such as by heat sealing, the bag then must be cut open or torn at the top by any suitable means by the consumer when it is time to withdraw the towelettes. This assures that the moisture remains in the roll until the towelettes are used. Once the bag 300 is open, the consumer may then easily affix the dispensing plate 400 around the end towelette 203 by pulling the end of the roll of towelettes out of the bag and sliding the towelette 203 along the sloping side 404 of the plate 400 into the slit 401 and the opening 402. The dispensing place 400 is then allowed to rest on top of the roll 200 within the bag.
As effective as this new device is for dispensing the towelettes singly from the roll of towelettes, there is a drawback as clearly shown in FIG. 1. Once the bag is opened and folded back so that the towelettes can be withdrawn therethrough, it exposes the roll of towelettes to the atmosphere. Even though the container which houses these towelettes is designed to be moisture impervious, because the seal of the bag is broken, the towelettes are susceptible to drying out much more rapidly than in the other prior art devices where the roll of towelettes is dispensed through only a single substantially closed opening in the container itself rather than by means of a dispensing plate as discussed herein.